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UK grocery sales reached £12.8bn in December, as mounting food prices raised households’ Christmas shopping bills, according to new sector data.

The figure for December 2022 was £1.1bn higher than in the same period of 2021 and marked the first time monthly grocery sales exceeded £12bn, according to research published on Wednesday by consulting company Kantar.

Fraser McKevitt, head of retail and consumer insight at Kantar, said that grocery price inflation was the “real driving factor” behind the figures, noting that by volume, sales declined 1 per cent year-on-year.

“Value sales of mince pies soared by 19 per cent but volume purchases barely increased at all,” McKevitt said, referring to a popular British festive snack.

Kantar’s data showed grocery price inflation for December was near record levels, at 14.4 per cent above the same month a year before, edging down from 14.6 per cent in November.

“This is the second month in a row that grocery price inflation has fallen, raising hopes that the worst has now passed,” McKevitt said.

The Office for National Statistics, provider of the UK’s official economic figures, will release its food price inflation figures later this month. Its most recent data showed annualised food price inflation for November at a 45-year high of 16.6 per cent.

High food prices also prompted buyers to turn to discount chains, according to Kantar. It said that Aldi, the UK’s fastest growing grocer, expanded its market share to 9.1 per cent in December, up from 7.7 per cent a year before.